Criteo has revealed new insights into how Apple’s data lockdown affected advertising, how the company is testing post-cookie ad targeting with Google and how it is developing a stronger relationship with Meta.
In its financial results this week, Criteo said it took a $16 million hit to revenue in the second quarter, partially blaming Apple’s anti-tracking policies. Still, Criteo is in the middle of its post-cookie transition, and just closed a $250 million deal to buy IPONWEB, a U.K.-based ad tech firm, which helps Criteo fill out its buy- and sell-side ad technology.
Criteo’s updates about its strategy reflect broader trends in ad tech, moving off cookies, forging new partnerships and pushing into areas like retail media.
All of this comes amid an economic downturn that is hitting advertising budgets.
What the numbers show
The “loss of signals, including iOS,” led to the $16 million revenue hit to Criteo’s retargeting business, Sarah Glickman, Criteo’s chief financial officer, said. “Signals” are data that help marketers track when ads lead to sales and other outcomes. Criteo’s legacy ad retargeting business relies on third-party cookies and other signals. Apple already deprecated cookies on Safari and implemented anti-tracking measures on iPhones, and Google is following suit on Chrome, just more slowly.
Criteo’s total second-quarter revenue fell to $214.5 million from $220.2 million a year earlier. Its retargeting revenue dropped to $144.1 million from $165.5 million a year earlier.
“The use of cookies is sort of saturated through our client base,” Criteo CEO Megan Clarken said in a call on Wednesday with Wall Street analysts. “They use it for all sorts of things, and so it’s very difficult for us to have them stop doing it, unless we can show them either drop-dead dates when they can’t use it anymore, or a reason to move.”
